NASA Confirms Earth will Experience 15 Days of Complete Darkness in NovemberNASA Confirms Earth will Experience 15 Days of Complete Darkness in November

Analysis:

Various stories in circulation on social media sites and elsewhere online warn that NASA has confirmed planet Earth will experience 15 days of Complete Darkness in November 2016. So let us check whether the claim is true or false.

About the Claim

According to one version in Telugu language an astronomical event between Venus and Jupiter shall cause a total blackout of planet Earth from 15-30 of November 2016 and there can be a rise of eight to nine degrees in temperature. It is said that such an event occurs once in one lakh years and that NASA head Charles Bolden has already submitted a 1000 pages report on it to U.S President Obama. Not to worry, the allegations of total blackout of Earth in November are not facts.

Origin of Story

The story in question seems to have originated from a July 2015 article on NewsWatch33 website newswatch33.com that said NASA confirmed Earth will experience 15 days of complete darkness in November 2015. It mentioned a fanciful story saying planets Venus and Jupiter will interact in a ‘close parallelism’ leading to spatial chemical changes that will cause the Sun to dim to a bluish color for about 14 days before it can recover. Earlier NewsWatch33 published a hoax story saying a Girl was Killed in Sleep by Electrocution from Her Earphones while Phone was Charging, and the website also had a disclaimer saying they publish satirical stories along with true events with a ‘shock factor’.

Screenshot of related article on Newswatch33 website

Popular Claim

The claim that Earth will experience total darkness and a blackout has been popular online since at least the Apocalypse Dooms Day allegations in 2012. One version said NASA predicts total blackout in December 2012 due to alignment of five planets. Another story said NASA confirms Earth will experience 6 days of total darkness in December 2014 due to a Solar storm. All these allegations are hoaxes; NASA has not issued these warnings.